Butchering – Carcass subdivision – Cutting longitudinally through body or body portion
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-27
2004-12-28
Price, Thomas (Department: 3643)
Butchering
Carcass subdivision
Cutting longitudinally through body or body portion
Reexamination Certificate
active
06835126
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for chilling and aging poultry carcasses. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for chilling and aging the front half portions of poultry carcasses.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When processing chicken, turkey, or other types of poultry, the poultry carcass will commonly be divided laterally to produce a front half product and a back half product. The front half will typically comprise the breasts, keel, wings, and a portion of the back. The back half, or saddle, typically comprises the legs, thighs, and the remainder of the back. Prior to deboning and/or other subsequent processing operations, the front halves of the poultry carcasses will commonly be subjected to aging at reduced temperatures in order to increase the tenderness of the product and facilitate any downstream processing operations.
Aging procedures heretofore used in the art have typically involved the steps of: (a) washing whole, eviscerated carcasses with chlorinated water; (b) conducting a visual zero-tolerance fecal inspection using a sample set of the carcasses; (c) chilling the eviscerated whole carcasses in a chlorinated water medium to a temperature in the range of from about 35° F. to about 40° F.; (d) unloading the whole carcasses from the chiller and hanging the carcasses upside down on a “cut-up shackle” conveyor; (e) delivering the carcasses by means of the shackle conveyor through a primary halving apparatus wherein the front and side skin and meat tissue is cut and the backbone is broken or cut such that the front half of the carcass is left hanging from the back half by substantially only a segment of tissue extending between the front and back sections of the backbone; (f) conducting the carcass through a subsequent, secondary halving apparatus wherein the remaining tissue segment is cut so that the front half is completely separated from the back half; (g) collecting the front halves in batch tubs and aging the front halves by placing the tubs in a refrigerated air cooler for a period in the range of from about 8 to about 10 hours; and then (h) moving the batch tubs of aged product from the cooler to the appropriate downstream processing stations.
Primary and secondary halving apparatuses for poultry carcasses are well known in the art. An example of one type of primary halving apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435. The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 is incorporated herein by reference.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 comprises: a tilted, rotating cog wheel having a circumferential array of radially projecting teeth (or fingers); an elongate horizontal auger (referred to in the '435 Patent as a “leg space conveyor”) which receives the back (saddle) portions of the carcasses as they are carried by the shackle conveyor and assists the shackle conveyor in moving the carcasses through the halving apparatus; an elongate guide rod generally running parallel to the leg space conveyor; a stationary incision blade which does not rotate with the cog wheel but projects outwardly from a radial gap formed in the wheel; and an inclined conical auger positioned after the cog wheel and rotating counter to the leg space conveyor.
In operation, the shackle conveyor delivers whole, eviscerated poultry carcasses to the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 in inverted position such that the backs of the carcasses face outwardly toward the leg space conveyor and the elongate guide rod. The shackle conveyor and leg space conveyor carry the carcasses into the tilted rotating cog wheel such that the carcasses tangentially intersect with the teeth of the cog wheel as the teeth move along the downward portion of their rotational path.
Specifically, as each carcass is delivered into the downward arcuate path of the cog wheel, one of the teeth of the cog wheel contacts the front skin of the carcass covering the evisceration vent and pushes the back of the carcass firmly against the leg space conveyor and the guide rod. The tooth thus operates to stabilize the carcass and to desirably tension both the front skin thereof and the two side breast-to-thigh tissue webs extending between the keel and thighs of the carcass. With the carcass stabilized and tensioned in this manner, it is carried by the cog wheel, the leg space conveyor, and the shackle conveyor into the stationary blade so that the blade cuts transversely through the tensioned front skin and side tissue webs at a point just below the tip of the breast keel.
Following the cutting operation, the shackle conveyor and the leg space conveyor of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,435 apparatus carry the carcass into the leading end of the inclined, counter-rotating conical auger so that the conical auger engages the front opening formed by the cutting operation in a manner effective to pull the hanging front half of the carcass downward and bend the front half backward under the elongate guide bar. The inclined conical auger thus operates to effect a further separation of the front and back halves of the carcass by breaking the backbone of the carcass and accomplishing a further pull-tearing of the side tissue webs.
Following the primary halving operation, the front half of the carcass is left hanging from the saddle by substantially only a segment of back skin tissue extending between the forward and rearward sections of the broken backbone. To thus complete the separation of the front half of the carcass from the back half, the carcass will typically be conveyed by the shackle conveyor to a secondary halving apparatus which cuts the remaining tissue extending between the front and back portions of the broken backbone. Some secondary halving devices utilize a rotating circular blade into which the carcasses are guided. Other types of secondary halvers utilize stationary cutting blades.
A secondary halving system
150
of a type commonly employed in the art is depicted in
FIGS. 5 and 6
. System
150
includes a skin blade
152
, a back support member (not shown), and an indexing assembly
156
. As the carcasses are delivered from the primary halver to the secondary halver, the indexing assembly
156
operates to receive and to properly orient and position the carcasses for the secondary cutting operation. The indexing assembly
156
also assists in moving the carcasses through skin blade
152
.
The particular indexing assembly
156
employed in secondary halving system
150
comprises: a support boom
158
; an elongate vertical center shaft
160
rotatably held by boom
158
; a chain-drive wheel
162
which is secured at the upper end of center shaft
160
and is engaged by the shackle conveyor drive chain in a manner effective for turning the indexing assembly in coordination with the shackle conveyor; an upper indexing wheel
164
secured on shaft
160
and having fingers
166
projecting radially therefrom for guiding the back half (saddle) of the carcass through the skin blade
152
; a similar but larger indexing wheel
168
secured on shaft
160
slightly below upper wheel
164
and having fingers
170
projecting radially therefrom for guiding the loosely hanging front half of the carcass through the skin blade
152
.
The typical front half chilling and aging processes employed heretofore have significant shortcomings. Aging the front halves in batch tubs results in: an undesirable degree of product damage due to crushing; significant moisture loss during the batch aging period; high manual labor requirements; employee injuries resulting from tub handling and dumping; undesirable variations in product quality; and increased opportunity for food safety problems or hazards due to handling. Delays between the batch aging process and further downstream processing steps also result in further dehydration and subsequent decreased product yield. Additionally, in the prior chilling and aging processes, any of the carcasses which fail the fecal inspection must be subjected to additional wa
Evans Stanley M.
Johnston Patrick
Brown Dennis D.
Fellers, Snider, Blankenship, Bailey & Tippens
Price Thomas
Tyson Foods, Inc.
LandOfFree
Poultry chilling and aging method and apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Poultry chilling and aging method and apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Poultry chilling and aging method and apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3310474